Control stitching needle



y 1961 w. E. DELKER 2,983,138

CONTROL STITCI-IING NEEDLE Filed Feb. 11, 1959 FIG]. 'FIG.2. FIG.3.

INVENTOR. Zffleiffer W ATTORNEY United States Patent CONTROL STITCHING NEEDLE William E. Delker, 1504 Mahanpongo Sh, Pottsville, Pa.

Filed Feb. 11, 1959 Ser. No. 792,675 Q 7 Claims. (Cl. 73-88) This invention relates to a device for testing stitching, such as that employed in machine-sewed articles, for the purpose of ascertaining the tightness or tension of the loops in thestitching.

In various kinds of sewedarticles such as for example, shirts or other articles, and particularly those of the socalled wash-and-wear type, the tension or tightness of the stitching is of importance and primarily to avoid thread breakage due to shrinkage. It is therefore desirable in garments of this character, and in fact in many other garments or other sewed articles to insure uniformity of tension in the stitching.v

It is therefore one ofthe objects of the present invention to provide a simple and effective instrument by means of which the tension or tightness of stitching can be ascertained and then regulated to thereby secure uniformity of the stitching according to the necessities of particular garments or other sewed articles.

. It is an object of the invention to provide an article of this character which will, by the simple insertion of .a tapered needle within a loop of the stitching under controlled and uniform force, determine whether or not the stitching is of the desired tension, and enable correction to be made if necessary.

It is another object of the invention to provide, in an instrument of this nature, means by which the force imposed on the needle when inserted within a loop of the stitching, can be governed to thereby obtain correctness of reading of the looseness or tightness of the tested stitching. v

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a stitch-testing instrument, constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the needle and associated parts;

7 Fig. 4 shows the instrument as it appears when inserted with the required pressure within a loop of the stitching, and

Figs. 5 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the body of the instrument, the same being in the form of a cylinder of hollow or tubular form, provided at its forward end with a closure cap 2, secured in any suitable manner on the end of the body. The rear end of the body is closed by a similar closure cap 3, also suitably fixedly attached on the latter end of the body. 7

Mounted to slide axially through the body 1 is a rod or stem 4, provided at its forward end with a collar 5. The collar 5 may be formed integrally with the stem or it may be suitably fixedly attached on it.- A coil spring shown at 6 surrounds the rod 4 within the body 1, one end of the spring bearing against the rear cap 3 and the opposite end being operative against the collar 5, to thereby tend to'urge the collar forwardly toward and against the inner surface of the front closure cap 2. The rear cap 3 is provided with a'central aperture 7 in the form of a round hole, and the rod or stem 4 protrudes therefrom and is adapted to be extended more or less out of the rear end cap according to force imposed by the loop of stitching on a needle or feeler 8 carried by the front end of the rod or stem 4 and forming a forward, rigid extension thereof. I V

The needle or feeler 8 is gradually tapered to a fine point 9 to facilitate its easy insertion under a loop 15 (Fig. 4) .of'or given size of the stitching to be tested. Also secured to the forward end of the rod or stem 4 (or actually secured to and forming an extension of the collar 5) is a lengthy, slender gauge rod 12 which extends co-extensively with, alongside of, and substantially parallel to the needle or feeler 8. Said gauge rod 12 isprovided with a plurality of calibrations or spaced circumferential markings 11 constituting a scale co-related to the taper of the needle or feeler and from which a reading as to the tension or tightness of the tested stitching is ascertained. The front cap 2 is formed with a hole 16 through which the needle 8 is slidable, and is also formed with another hole, indicated at 17, through which the gauge rod 12 is slidable.

Provided on the rear portion of the stem or rod 4 is a circumferential marking 10, located at a certain point to indicate the extent of force imposed on the needle 8 during the testing operation. A number of spaced markings, possibly of different. colors, might be used to indicate ditferent 'pressures. 1

From the foregoing, the structure and operation of the stitch-testing instrument will be readily understood. When it is desired to ascertain whether. stitching of a known loop size is of a desired tension or tightness, the needle or feeler 8, has its pointed extremity) inserted under a loop 15 of the stitching, and force is imposed on the instrumentto cause the needle to be thrust within the loop until the rod- 4 is urged rearwardly in opposition to the coil spring 6, until the marking 10 is just exposed out of the rear end of the body 1 beyond the rear closure cap 3 as shown in Fig. 4. When this point is reached, the extent to which the needle has been thrust through the loop in the stitching will ascertained by the position of the loop 15 relatively to the scale of markings 11. In Fig. 4, the thread loop 15 is shown as being located adjacent to the fourth calibration from the free end of the gauge rod. If for example, the thread reached the second mark on the scale, or that indicated at 11b, it would be obvious that the loop would be looser than if the thread had reached the first mark, or that indicated at 11a. Thus, since the needle 8 is tapered, and causes increasing resistance as it is moved through the loop, the farther in on the needle and hence the farther along on the scale that the loop positions itself, the looser would be the loop of the stitching. By merely inserting the needle within a loop of the stitching and applying force on the instrument until the'markin-g 10 is exposed as shown in Fig. 4, and then reading the position of the thread loop relatively to the scale 11, it can be ascertained whether the stitching is of the required tension or is too loose or too tight and requires correction.

The construction of the instrument is simple. It is composed of few parts; is unlikely toget out of order and providesan accurate guide for the seeurement of tion, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto but is broad enoughtto cover all structures com ing within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. An instrument for testing stitching comprising, a spring-urged tapered needle for.mannalsinsertionrthrough ajlo p :of ash en i iz inr he stitching. eschews-related t th taper of he needl for .indicating-theextent of passageof theneedle through the loop nndengivenzforce, and inea-ns on the needle jfOl guiding the user as to the extent of force to be applied when insertingthe needle through the loop. r f 2 An instrument for testing the iensi'on of stitching comprising, a body member, a tapered needle rifor'insertion within a loop of the stitc ingysnaidz ncedlerhaving a part slid-ably mounted :within the body member, said rear part having a portion capablegof gextensionlout of the -rear of the bodylmernben-isaid portionrhaving a c -d si na n m an hri e ending st u rs the needle t w y nd outof 'l hfi-sfDmarld end of the member, a scale co-related to;the 'taperr ofitheneedlmand di po e alongside of arri d widLtheineedle "for indicating looseness of a loop gill thentitchingib}! the p s o e v100p ont he 1e when uheneedle has been inserted throughthe loop andhas hadzforce imposed on it to an extent designated by the force-designating means. a I a Y 3. An instrument for testing the tension of stitching comprising; ,a tube, a-.s tem slidable within the tube, said stem having a tapered needle extending out of the forwardjend of the tube, the stem havinga rear part projecting out oftthe rear end oft-he tube, a-force-designating mark on the rear part of theste'm, a coil spring .surrounding the stem within the tube and tending to urge the needle'forward'ly out of the front end of the tube, and a scale member co-related to-the taper of the needle and extending'co-extensiyely with and'parallel to the needle and mowed therewith for designating the tension in a loop of the stitching when the needle has been inserted therethrough with ya force indicated by the force-designating mark.

,4. Aninstrument for testing ,the'tension oat stitching the tube having openings in its forward end through which both theneedle .andssoalememberare .slida ble.

5. An instrument for testing the tightness of given sized loops in stitching comprising, a needle for insertion in a loop of the stitching, said needle "being of tapered form, a handle in the form of a hollow body, the needle having a stem slid-able through the body and out of the rear end of "the same, spring means within the handle tending to urge the needle forwardly out of the handle to-a limited extent,amarker on the'part of the stem that is movable outside of the body for indicating spring force when the force reaches a known degree, and a scale co-related Withthe needle taper and spring pressure for indicating the looseness of theloop through which the needle is inserted with a; force designated by said marker. 7

6..An instrument for testing the tightness of loops in stitching as provided for in claim 5, wherein the hollow ihody is intheform ofa tube; the springjmeans-being in the form of -.a coil spring contained withinthe tube,

and the scale being in the dorm of a slender rodyextending alongside and substantially parallel to the needle, and said scale bearing spaced calibrations.

7. An instrument for determining the tensionof loops in stitching comprising, a tubular 'bodymember, closure caps on the opposite, endsof the body memben a rod contained in'the :body niemberland axially slidabletherethrough, the rod having .one :end .slidable through one ll enc Ci ed inihefi e new UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 17,096 Doll e 'M'ar. 27, 1894 2,786,277 .Zifierer Mar. 26, 1957 1,844,881 Stunkel July 29, 1958 2,849,879 Schiller .Q Sept. 2, 1958 2,888,751 Pedrick, June 2, 1959 

